Queen's Pawn Game
by systematic-alchemy
Summary: Too many players in this game of chess make for high stakes and interesting bedfellows.
1. Chapter 1

"By the time a player becomes a Grandmaster, almost all of his training time is dedicated to work on this first phase. The opening is the only phase that holds out the potential for true creativity and doing something entirely new." - Garry Kasparov

* * *

With a wrinkled face Willow looked over the box she carried. "Have you noticed the fanatic paintball players lately?"

Buffy was helping Willow move her things into her dorm room by carrying all the boxes filled with books. "I thought they'd have stopped after the third death."

"It'd be better if they didn't insist on midnight games. They've lost almost a dozen to demons." As Willow set her box down, she sighed at how much work it would take to get unpacked and settled. "That's all my stuff. Let's get your stuff into your room."

"That's okay. Parker, that cute guy we met this morning, offered to help. And who am I to refuse."

"Well while you're man snaring, I'll unpack and then go watch over Oz. First night in the cage he built in that crypt. Someone's got to make sure he stays put." Willow opened a box. "Stop by if you make it out to patrol."

"I'll be there round one. Later." Buffy walked off toward her own dorm room.

* * *

Eschewing his trademarks, Spike walked through Sunnydale, right past Xander without even a raised eyebrow. When it was all said and done, he'd show them they'd never win. Contrary to popular belief and a reputation he's worked hard to put out there, Spike was often patient. He survived by knowing when to create a spectacle and when to blend in, when to attack, and when to make slow strategic moves.

Right now he had one goal, defeat all his enemies. Fortune would have it, most of them were in Sunnydale. He'd seen his worst defeats here, but that was before he had a gambit that worked more like the perfect ace. One more day and he could start his campaign full force.

When he walked into his current lair all his minions stopped what they were doing and looked to him. He had everything from vampires to Fyarls. Spike had even wrangled an Old One, though trapped in a human body, making him only slightly more powerful than a normal vampire.

"How's the progress?" Spike asked Maloker.

"They have exceeded expectations and broke through the vault floor ten minutes ago." The chartreuse half human Old One walked Spike down the tunnel.

"Good."

"Before I allow you to obtain the Gem, I need you to live up to your end of the bargain. What's the name of the witch?"

"The deal was that I'd give you her name when I'd succeeded in my goal. The Gem is a game piece I need to get there. My goal is to crush the government that's been stealing demons and using them like a slave army, and the Slayer line. I'll make sure you get your witch when we've done that." Spike laughed at the cross look on Maloker's face. "And for as long as I hold your leash, you'll comply. Now see to the troops, make sure they're ready by morning."

Maloker turned and left without another word.

* * *

It was past one thirty in the morning when Buffy made it to the crypt, but as she closed in on it, she heard nothing. For a minute she thought maybe she'd gotten the wrong crypt, but the cage inside left no doubt. This was the right place, but the door to the cage was open and empty. Buffy combed over the crypt and found Willow's travel mug cracked in the corner, and traces of blood on the drilled open cage door.

A scuffling noise halted Buffy. She couldn't see anything, but Buffy knew something was there. A Slayer fast strike and her fist came into contact with what felt like a person's face and the oomph sounded like a person too. Just as she found them again, someone attacked her from behind, and another from her left, the right, and then every direction.

One invisible attacker, sure no problem, two she'd still get it done, but Buffy couldn't even tell how many there were. She had to work her way to the stairs and then she escaped.

* * *

In a basement room of Sunnydale General, a woman opened her eyes for the first time in months. With a wrench of her wrist, the link between the cuffs broke. Before the officers guarding her could respond, she'd grabbed the one's gun.

"You," she said to the other cop. "Gun, floor, and kicked here. Then strip."

He complied and when she had his uniform in hand, she shot them both in the head.

"Guess I get to play bad cop." Faith smirked as she left the hospital.

* * *

Willow woke up in a cell with all sides white tiles, except a large windowed wall. Her clothes were nowhere to be seen, and she tried to cover herself as men and women walked by the window. Some were in uniforms while others wore lab coats.

When one in a lab coat stopped in front of her cell to study her and take notes, she asked, "What's going on? Where am I? Where's Oz?"

She got no reply and the man in the coat just jotted down a few more things before walking out of her view.

The cell across from her was empty, and she couldn't try to see anything else without exposing herself. She tried to use magic but found that only made her lightheaded with no results, so she screamed. No one came or even paid attention to her.


	2. Chapter 2

"The shortcoming of hanging pawns is that they present a convenient target for attack. As the exchange of men proceeds, their potential strength lessens and during the endgame they turn out, as a rule, to be weak.

"The power of hanging pawns is based precisely in their mobility, in their ability to create acute situations instantly." - Boris Spassky

* * *

"I don't care about missing demons or secret government agencies! Willow and Oz are missing Giles. That's what we need to be looking at right now!" Buffy didn't care about anything else.

"I think they're all related. And don't forget that Oz is a demon. Even when he's not in his wolf form, he still has heightened senses, and some extra strength. So if you care about Oz and Willow you'll pay attention to what I have to say about the missing demons and witches." Giles turned toward Xander when the boy cleared his throat.

"I'm listening. Tell me how we get Willow and Oz back."

Buffy rolled her eyes and sat down dramatically. "Fine, let's waste time and get them killed when we should track them."

"For the last three months the demon community has been under attack not just by us, but by what from I can tell is a military organization I'd thought disbanded."

"Military? Three months? The paintball freaks. It has to be." Buffy didn't wait to hear anything else, she rushed off to find one of them and force him or her to free Willow and Oz.

The phone rang as the door closed, and Giles answered, "Hello?"

"She's awake." The woman on the line said nothing more before hanging up.

"Oh dear lord."

Xander asked. "Is Willow okay?"

"It's Faith actually. She's awake." Giles sat down and stared into nothing trying to decide the best course of action.

"And her timing's impeccable as always." Xander groaned. "I want to help. Buffy needs to find Will, so we'll handle Faith."

"The best we could hope to accomplish is locating and perhaps following her."

"Then we'll do that. I can't sit here. I'll just keep freaking out over Willow." Xander put his jacket on and opened the door. Giles followed.

* * *

"The decision to research in Sunnydale was a smart one Professor." The Colonel walked through the hall in the containment area, gleaning an idea of how vast their R&D could be here. In three months they'd already captured over two dozen different types of demons, and just as many witches and warlocks with varying power levels and specialties.

"I'm glad you think so." Maggie stopped in front of the last cell containing a witch. "From the preliminary tests, Hostile 29 would be an excellent candidate for our splicing and utilization program."

Colonel McNamara studied the back of the redhead as she lay facing the back wall. "It's skinny. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Like many of the sub-terrestrials its capabilities belie its physical stature."

"Is this the one found with a wolf?" McNamara asked.

"Yes, and it seems the two are protective of each other. That'll work to our advantage."

"Send it to surgery at once. No need to use anesthetic, Dr. Angleman, save it for the troops. We have to keep from acquisitioning too much. Don't want the wrong eyes on us."

Dr. Angleman said, "Yes, sir." And then nodded for two guards to aid him in moving Hostile 29 to the pit.

* * *

The sun rising was a thing of beauty to Faith. She'd never stopped to watch one before, but sitting on Kingman's Bluff, the stunning colors were undeniable. The sun now completely over the horizon, had Faith confused at the continuing feeling in her gut. She'd been relying on her instincts to know when vampires were close, but why would it still be acting up now? There was nowhere for a vampire to hide from the sun. She turned around and around until she saw the person sitting right on the edge of the cliff. Black t-shirt, brown hair, and the palest arms and neck she'd ever seen in the daytime.

She pulled the stake she made out of her stolen belt. Creeping up on the thing, he seemed oblivious to her advancements. When she staked him through the back, she'd expected him to either turn to dust or be a body she needed to toss off the cliff. Neither happened. The hole she'd made closed when she removed her stake.

"I have a proposition for you, Faith." His voice slicked her insides with its muddled English accent.

"How'd you know my name?" She watched him stand up, and she nearly cried at the sight of those blue eyes over the sharpest cheekbones she'd ever seen.

"When a bloke returns to town, he likes to catch up on the local gossip, so he doesn't feel out of place in conversations." He ambled down the hill and when she hesitated, he sighed. "For as nice as this view is, it's been a long time since I've been outside in the day, and I'd like to see more."

Faith followed cause why not? "So how long's it been? And what's your name?"

"Hundred and nineteen years give or take. And the name's Spike."

* * *

Feeling anxious and like a failure, Buffy's feet dragged her to Giles's apartment. Not a single sign of the paintball freaks she'd been seeing for months. When she got there, the door was locked, and the lights were out. Knocking brought no one to the door, and Buffy sat in the courtyard, unable to go to her dorm with Willow in trouble.

"Miss?"

Her game must have been way off. She hadn't heard the man coming. "Hi. I'm fine. Just waiting for my friend."

"You should get inside. The freaks like the dark." He was tall and sheepish while he told her what to do.

"I know, but trust me. I'm fine." She tried to smile but she couldn't help but notice his clothes. Paint splattered camo. "You like paintball?"

He laughed and looked at himself. "Guilty as charged."

No time for gentleness or stealth, Buffy grabbed him and shoved him against the wall. "Where do you keep your prisoners? Tell me before the sun comes up and you might survive."

* * *

Dr. Angleman closed the patient. Hostile 29 had passed out an hour ago from pain, but that didn't make his job any easier. Between the biochemistry, the magic, and Hostile 5 putting up a fight, everything that could go wrong and still have the desired outcome, did. The face and body of the Hostile were covered in a spiderweb of scars, so its once pleasant countenance made him cringe now. This surgery was like shredding Starry Night in its degradation. If it weren't for the knowledge that this witch would've surely destroyed them all, he'd regret being her surgeon.


	3. Chapter 3

"Without error there can be no brilliancy." - Emanuel Lasker

* * *

Sitting in the cast iron chair, Buffy kept the soldier boy in place with a foot to his neck. Any time he tried to get away, she depressed her foot enough to make him grunt. When she heard the telltale signs of people leaving for work, Buffy was forced to let him up.

"You so much as look at anyone for help, I'll let you go, but I'll hunt you down and kill you later, Riley Finn."She tossed his wallet at him.

"Yes, ma'am."

They sat staring at each other for over an hour. People came and went not paying them any mind. When Giles and Xander showed up, they said nothing as she led Riley away, and they said little as they walked with them. When they got to Buffy's destination, Xander asked, "Why here?"

"No one's using it." She shoved Riley to the ground. "Look familiar?"

"It's a crypt. With a cage for some reason." Riley shrugged. "So?"

"My friends were taken from here last night. I want them back. Now. And you will tell me how I can do that."

"Major Riley Finn 478-98-3654."

Buffy didn't punch him hard enough to break anything, but her temper was off the charts. "You will tell me what I want to know. And if you lie, I'll kill every midnight paintball player I can find until you tell me the truth."

"What kind of demon are you?"

"Funny, I'm not one. And neither were my friends. A locked up werewolf and a witch are people, you creep. Now tell me how to get them back!"

Giles cleared his throat before she could hit him again. "Beating him to death won't get you what you want. However, we'll hold him until he talks. Xander, get a sturdy chain and lock we can use on the cage."

"On it."

After Xander left, Giles said, "And if either Willow or Oz are harmed in any way, I'll help you torture Major Finn to death. There is something we need to talk about first, however."

"And what's that?" Buffy asked as she pushed Finn into the cell.

"Faith's awake."

"Maybe she's…"

"She killed the two officers standing guard over her."

"I so don't have time for her. I need to get Willow and Oz. Of course she'd wake up and still be evil at the least convenient time ever."

* * *

As midday hit, Faith knew she'd found a partner in Spike. His glee reminded her of Wilkins even if it was more of an ornery happiness. Ornery was what Wilkins would call her from time to time, and she felt it fit Spike to a T. The way his eyes lit up as he ordered breakfast and the grin as he killed the diner patrons were a kid at Christmas for sure. They were driving around in the cart the meter maid used and running over random things to see if the cart could perform. Everything was going great, up to and including where he ran the cart into a ditch.

As they got out, Faith asked, "So what's the big plan?"

"Take down the American government for starters." Spike laughed. "After I bleach my hair naturally."

"Naturally the hair comes first. And you don't start small do you? The big US of A is a tall order don't you think? I mean the corporations that run it wouldn't stop for an apocalypse, or they'd start one if they could get their heads out of their asses for five seconds."

"While I know ending stupidity seems like a hard target to hit, I have the best plan. Use their ignorance against them." Spike lit a smoke. "The morons picked the evil demon capital of the world for their research and development. They've got an underground bunker filled with demons they think they tamed. Some of those demons aren't even evil, but I can tell you one thing. Demons of any sort don't go for the controlled by wankers bit except for the ones without higher thought. So there's a ready made army, inside and waiting. I need to do some recon, as they call it, then I can move."

"Got any outside firepower?"

"I have an Old One, and every demon I've chatted up about this topic ready and willing to die for the cause if needed. Now I have a Slayer, which should help keep the blonde one off my back while we work." Spike tossed an arm around Faith's shoulders. "And you're human enough for what needs to happen next."

"And what's that?"

"I need you to join the commandos, be my inside man."

"Hey, I'm not your Private Benjamin."

"Not asking you to dress in camo or anything, love. Only asking you to spy and fight."

"Just so we're clear, I'm not your minion. We're partners or nothing. You let me in on every aspect of your plan, and I have the same amount of decision making power as you. We got a deal?" She stood arms akimbo.

He rolled his tongue in his mouth as he smirked. "Yeah, we got a deal."

Her hands ran up his chest before she kissed him forcefully. Spike pulled her body to his by grabbing her ass. Her moan was appreciative.

* * *

Walsh stood over Hostile 29, a gun to Hostile 28's head. "You do what I say or he dies. I believe the silver ammunition in this gun will do the job."

"Willow, no!"

One of the army guys hit Oz over the head and blood oozed from his scalp. "Shut up, demon."

With tears in her eyes, she said, "I'm sorry, but I can't let them hurt you."

"You're doing the right thing 29." Maggie's smile was frightening. "Now what I need you to do is magically infuse life into this dead flesh."

Willow's eyes widened. "That'll take months of research and some impossible to get ingredients."

Maggie shot Oz in the foot. "You have a week or I start amputating parts of your dog."

Oz didn't give Walsh the satisfaction of screaming, but his breathing got harsh and labored. "Willow, don't do this."

"Oz. I'm sorry."


	4. Chapter 4

"Can't stay, but I thought I would bring you something to help ward off sleep monsters." Xander handed Buffy whatever crazy name the largest sugar caffeine possible was called.

Buffy sipped the coffee. "Oh, mocha just the way I like it." Thoughts of Willow clouded her mind once again. "Willow's going to be so upset about missing classes."

Xander almost laughed as he walked up the stairs. "If they wanted to torture her they've already succeeded. I doubt she's thinking of anything else right now."

Riley shook his head. If their friends were Initiative captives then school was the last thing on this Willow's mind. But he let them find comfort while they could.

* * *

Maggie drank her black coffee as she watched the monitor for Hostile 29. With Hostile 5's special talents in her, Walsh expected this one would finally bridge the gap they'd been stuck on for years.

The Colonel passed by talking to the Lieutenant about the new arrivals. "They're both Majors, and one's a dame, but the word is that she's to be on the front line, fighting with the boys. The other is a seasoned clean cut soldier. Both of them have the highest clearance ratings I've seen short of having a bird on their collars, so we should get them up to date first thing."

The two men walked into the greeting room to see that the two new recruits knew each other and were talking amicably. "Never thought I'd see you in the military, geek boy."

"Well, I have more training than most, and I'll have you know that I love military movies and can quote Patton from memory."

Faith and Xander smirked at each other, silent communication that they would do everything they could to find out why the other was there. And they would do whatever they could to mess each other up. If it weren't for the camera, Faith would have killed him already.

* * *

Spike had his feet up on the table as he waited for the timer to go off, telling him that the bleach could be rinsed off. If he weren't a vampire in love with pain, he'd never have gotten past the second bleaching. It burned, blistered and occasionally made him bleed. But with the pain tolerance he had, this was as close as he could get to the feeling of how his mother scrubbed his scalp with her nails when she washed it. She'd rub and scratch his head until it tingled.

Maloker ambled into Spike's room, choosing to forget once more that knocking was a thing. Spike didn't bat an eye at the intrusion. "I don't understand what this offending odor from your hair has to do with bringing back my brethren."

"It's an image thing. You exude the right aesthetic and confidence, and people will follow you."

"I don't want people to follow me. I want them to crawl at my feet," Maloker growled.

"Tomato, tomahto." When Maloker didn't get it, Spike rolled his eyes. "Same difference. We can get people to crawl at our feet willingly if we can make it seem like they're getting something out of it. You never give them more than hope. The world will fall at your feet if you give them hope but never pay out."

"Make this happen."

"Working on it, mate." Spike's timer went off and he bounced to his feet, head tingling the way he liked. "This step is just about complete."

"I don't understand this infernal time." Maloker growled again and left Spike's room.

* * *

"So the movies are all wrong?" Buffy said as boredom took over. "No serial numbers, just socials? Considering identity theft, I'd think that's a dangerous thing to do."

No comment from the prisoner.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were some naive farm boy. Or well I'm still guessing farming's in there somewhere. And I have to say if you signed up to capture and kill innocent people because you think supernatural equals evil, I'd say naive still applies. So I will stick with my original assessment."

Still no comment.

"I'm bored. Let's fight." She got up and dialed the combination into the lock, letting her into his cage and locking it behind her.

"I won't hit a girl," Riley said.

"So he can speak. Let's put a little wager on it then. If I win, you tell me what I need to know. If you win, I'll let you go." Her mischievous smile belied her anger.

"And you'll honor that?"

"Yep. I'll even do it with my eyes closed." Buffy did as she said.

He stood up and circled her. Once he'd done that once he doubled back a third before making a move. Riley brought his arm down to grab her shoulder and wound up in her grip. She spun around turning his arm with her so that his back faced her, and he had to double over to avoid dislocating his shoulder.

"I could break your shoulder from this position, but I'll be super nice and let you try again."

She let him go with a shove, and he wasted no time before spinning and kicking her in the chest. But it didn't land, and he ended up kicking the concrete wall with a scream as his tibia splintered. A chunk stuck through his pant leg as blood pooled under him.

"Say that looks bad." Buffy knelt down next to him. "Now tell me what I want to know, and I'll get you to the hospital."

He breathed through his nose as he clamped his mouth shut.

"Fine. Be like that." She turned and shouted. "Giles! Some help here!"

"I'd say you were being especially cruel, but then again this man can save our friends and yet he choses not to, making him worth less than sun in a library." Giles entered the cage. "I have half a mind to leave him like this, but since we don't want him dead, I'll do what I can."

Buffy left Giles to care for Major Finn. When she got outside, she gasped for air as she silently wept. She had become what she fought, a monster. And she'd do it again. With Willow in danger, Buffy would cross that line and then the next until she got her friend back safe.

* * *

Another text and another dead end had Willow near tears. If she wanted to save Oz, she needed to figure this out. The sounds of demons whimpering, growling, and banging the walls leaked through her concentration, sending her into a rage like she'd never experienced.

Naked and growling in fury with fangs but no bumps, Willow threw the useless book at the electrified glass wall. It caught fire and landed in the corner. She moved the other books to the other side of her cage, keeping them safe from the flames, but then she ignored the fire and went back to researching. The tile floor cracked under the heat, but the fire didn't spread.


	5. Chapter 5

"… the woman who grows up with the idea that she is simply to be an amiable animal, to be caressed and coaxed, is invariably a bitterly disappointed woman. A game of chess will cure such a conceit forever. The woman that knows the most, thinks the most, feels the most, is the most. Intellectual affection is the only lasting love. Love that has a game of chess in it can checkmate any man and solve the problem of life." - Charles Dickens

hr

"The troops you sent out the other day have returned with ten times their numbers in recruits." Maloker growled at Spike's smirk.

"Good, now half of them need to get caught." Spike stood up and walked out the door. "I'll address their questions myself."

"There are over two dozen species out there," Maloker said, following Spike.

"I can use visual aids if I don't know the language." He picked the poster boards he made for this occasion as he passed through the office section of the tunnel. "Mal, you need to calm down. Everything's going better than planned."

hr

Xander and Faith followed the Colonel around the facility, both making mental notes of its strengths and weaknesses. They were walking through the containment area when the Colonel stopped in front of a specific cell.

"This is Hostile 29. It's been modified with spliced DNA from the deceased Hostile 5. This creature is intent on making the 314 project a reality. We keep it focused on this mission through using what little empathy such a creature is capable of against it."

Faith could tell even from behind that this "hostile" was none other than Willow Rosenberg, and so could Xander. Despite the scars crisscrossing her back, there was the way she held herself that both spies recognized as Willowy. Faith now knew why Xander was here and decided that she'd make Willow a project of hers.

"She looks like she's in a lot of pain," Xander said, trying to hide the full weight of his concern.

"Its pain is of no concern. What is of our concern is containing its power. So long as it remains in the compound, the only magic it can do is what we tell it to do." The Colonel puffed out his chest when Willow turned and growled at him fangs elongated. "See, it's nothing more than an animal."

"What's the procedure for moving the hostiles to the Pit?" Faith asked.

"We'll talk about that in a few minutes." The Colonel pointed to the next cell. "This is Hostile 28, and it's how we keep 29 in check. When the next full moon comes we'll know if we cured it. It seems to think that it's no longer a werewolf now that we've cut off its left hand, but there's no evidence to suggest it's trying to do anything other than trick us into letting it go."

"Why'd you cut off the hand?" Xander asked, averting his eyes away from Oz to keep his cool.

"Because 29 stopped working." The Colonel slid his keycard and walked out the door. Faith and Xander followed. Faith was unaffected by the plight of the demons and witches here, but Xander was nauseated. Once the door was shut behind them the Colonel continued. "We drug their food and once they succumb to the sedatives, a team muzzles and cuffs them before using a stretcher to bring them to the Pit."

The gears in Faith's head were already turning searching for a way to get herself out of this crap assignment. This one tour gave her everything she needed to get there.

hr

Riley couldn't sleep through the pain in his leg. That Giles character did a good job as a field medic, setting and splinting the break, but they wouldn't even give him an aspirin. Every instinct in his body told him that these were good people pushed to doing bad things for the right reason, but he wouldn't commit treason. Through the haze of pain, he tried to find a way to help them, and help himself while not facing the stockade later. His frailty was so clear that Buffy felt comfortable sleeping during her watch.

His thoughts were interrupted when Xander rushed down the stairs. "Buffy!"

Buffy was instantly awake. "What's going on?"

Xander whispered in her ear at a panicked pace and the longer he went on, the more ashen her face became. When he leaned back, she asked, "Did you see a way to get them out?"

"No. The entire place has cameras watching it and several soldiers watching those feeds. I didn't see many weak points in their security."

"But there were some?" When Xander nodded, Buffy took a breath. "Then we go in with a full on assault."

"There's only three of us, we'll get slaughtered." Xander leaned against a wall. "Though small numbers might be an advantage if we stick to the hallways. We could work it like a bottleneck. There'd be only so many soldiers that could fight us."

"Think we can pull a Judge?" Buffy asked.

"Sure. I'm not a hundred percent, but I remember enough to get through. Wanna play an airhead turned on by guns?"

"Not really, but I will. But I hate guns, they never help."

"There's plenty of other equipment we could use." Xander sighed. "This would be fun if it weren't for…"

"I know." Buffy hugged Xander. "Things will never be the same, but we'll bring them home and help them somehow."

Xander nodded. "I'll go get Giles so he can guard the meathead while we do the grand theft thing."

"We should use Oz's van. You drive."

He nodded again before leaving.

Riley understood enough of that conversation to know they were going to try to storm the Initiative. "You'll fail."

"Didn't ask you." Buffy scowled at him. "You'll get my attention only when you decide to be useful."

hr

Faith stood in front of Willow's cell, key card in hand. "Hey, Red. Want outta here?"

Willow looked at Faith with new eyes. While most of the soldiers and doctors here had ugly skin, Faith's was flawless. "I want Oz out of here more."

"Tell you what. I can get both of you out of here if you agree to join my side. We could use a witch." Faith waited until Willow nodded before pressing the button to the explosives she set behind the wall of monitors in the control room. With a slide of her card, she opened both their cells. "Follow me, love birds."

They threw on the lab coats Faith tossed to them and followed her through a maze of hallways. The three of them dodged soldiers and slid under doors before they shut. Running down a hall that looked different from the rest, some of the commandos came up behind them. Willow tried to throw up a shield, but her magic still didn't work and a bullet caught Oz in the back of the head the blood and gore splattering both Faith and Willow.

"No!" Willow screamed as her devastation blinded her.

Faith dragged Willow through the last door, pausing for just a moment so Faith could shake her. "We need to make a stealthy retreat. Get it together."

Willow nodded, tears unrelenting as they made their way through the woods and into Spike's lair. When they stopped, Willow's nose flared. "I won't rest until they're all dead."

"Then you want what we want," Faith said as she caught her breath. "Welcome to the party, Red."

Willow looked around at the demons in the cave. "Who's in charge."

"That'd be me." Spike ambled into the anterior part of the cave. "And my partner Faith."

"Did the spying thing. Wasn't much to learn that we didn't already know. But I've got a blueprint in my head, and I got a mega powerful witch on our side." Faith wrapped an arm around Willow's shoulders.

"Don't touch me." Willow stepped away from Faith. "I know what they're working on, and I know what will happen to it. I don't think they realized what they did when they mixed Drusilla into me."

Spike growled, picked up a bowl, and threw it at the cave wall.

"I'm sorry, Spike." Willow ran her hand over his back, keeping an inch of air between her skin and his shirt. "But trust me when I say, they'll pay for what they've taken from us."

Lip curled, Spike turned and studied Willow's scarred face. "Yes, we will."

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Professor Walsh examined Hostile 29's cell. The last book was open and after skimming the content of that spell, Walsh was sure they could convince one of the other witches to do the it. While losing 29 was a setback, it wasn't a total loss.


	6. Chapter 6

Buffy and Xander's plans to infiltrate the Initiative were waylaid by the alarms still sounding and the complete lockdown of the facility.

"Looks like you'll be playing soldier until we can get her back." Buffy sighed and leaned on a tree. "Please tell me you can fool them for a while longer."

"Yeah." He didn't really believe that. "I want to get Oz out of there before they chop off his other hand."

"What about Willow?" Buffy asked her brow furrowed.

"I don't know if she's still really Willow. You didn't see her, Buffy. Her whole body was scarred, and she had fangs. They turned her into a monster."

"They turned her?"

"No, but they spliced DNA from a vampire into hers. She was feral and fangy."

* * *

"So tell us, Wills, what's the big project they had you working on?" Faith asked while she plucked Spike's cigarette out of his fingers and took a drag.

Willow sat cross-legged on the floor and looked up at them with an innocent love to teach. "They're trying to combine human, demon, and mechanical parts to make some kind of super soldier. But their plans are flawed, they want something obedient, but instead of using something like a Fyarl, they used a demon called Titan. He's one of a kind and they didn't do their due diligence when they captured him and instead relied on tests that he manipulated. Titan's a dawn of time kind of demon and he doesn't play well with others. He hates demons and humans alike."

"What will this human/demon/cyborg..." Spike started.

"They're calling him Adam."

"What will Adam's capabilities be?" he asked taking his cigarette back.

"Extensive and unfortunately if they look close at the last book they give me, Adam should be operational in less than a week. The good news is that I know Adam's one and only weakness."

Faith and Spike listened to Willow as she laid out a plan. "Hey, blondie, see, I knew this girl would be, what's the word?"

"Pivotal?" Willow supplied.

"Yeah, pivotal. We should be one of those triumvirates." Faith grinned. "An unstoppable three headed monster."

"That's a lot of cooks in the kitchen, love."

"It's a big kitchen." She teased his lips with hers. "We want the world don't we?"

"I didn't know Red here was after world domination. And I don't remember telling you that was my goal."

"It was obvious." She kissed his neck, "Take down the government behind a veil of secrecy," nipped at his ear, "and put the right puppets into play with you pulling the strings." Her hand pushed down on his groin. "But it should be the three of us pulling the strings, we can control more puppets that way, right lover?"

"I'm not saying yes because of the sex," he muttered before he kissed her with lots of tongue.

Faith pulled back for air. "Of course not." She turned to Willow and panted out the words: "Wanna join the party?" as Spike bit her neck with blunt teeth.

"You think I'm going to leave the world to you two by yourselves? Unh-uh. Count me in." Willow watched them fuck each other on the desk with a detached interest.

* * *

"How's the pain?" Giles asked sitting in the folding chair outside Riley's cage. "Judging by the amount of sweat, I'd say it's excruciating. An infection has set in hasn't it?"

Riley looked away.

"So the answer is yes." With a Ripperesque smile, Giles pulled a bottle of pills out of one coat pocket and a bottle of water from the other. "I have a full treatment of antibiotics with me, but if you want them, you need to start talking."

Eyes rimmed dark pink and bloodshot, shaking from internal chills, Riley stared Giles down. "Fuck off."

From a leather case at his feet, Giles pulled out a bone saw. "Then I have no other choice than to cut off your leg. What a shame to lose the entire limb because of a simple break."

The shakes turned into tremors of fear as Giles approached the cage with the saw.

"Without someone to hold you down, this will be particularly painful." Giles got a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket once he was inside the cage. "But it would kill you if I didn't restrain you somehow. And you're useless dead."

The struggle to get Riley's hands cuffed around the one bar displaced the leg splint, and Riley screamed as his leg turned ninety degrees mid-shin.

Riley's pant leg had been torn off, so Giles applied a tourniquet mid thigh, and set the saw teeth just above the knee. "Let me explain something before we begin. Once I start, there will be no stopping me. Your last chance to tell me what I want to know ends in five, four, three, two, one." Giles pressed the saw down enough to just break the skin.

"Stop! I'll tell you anything you want to know." Riley's breath came fast and hard in his panic.

"Superb. We'll start by you telling me about the government agency for which you work. And we'll be finished when you have nothing else to tell me." Giles looked down at Riley's leg. "Shall I reset your leg first?"

"Please."

Giles put a piece of leather in Riley's mouth. "Since you asked nicely."

* * *

"Please," the first witch to fail in regenerating Adam's flesh pleaded. "I'm sorry. I can try again."

"Shut up or I'll shoot you now." Maggie nodded to the second witch when the first witch stopped talking.

The trembling second witch stuttered out the spell, lighting candles, and sprinkling herbs. Nothing happened.

Professor Walsh grit her teeth. She shot the first witch in the head. "Bring in the next one. No one sleeps until this is finished."

The soldiers hurried to follow orders as the captive shrieked in horror. "NO! NOOOOOOOOOO!"


End file.
